George Brown Posted October 25, 2007 Posted October 25, 2007 In my day, the Simpson 260 was King! I know a few years ago everyone seemed to be using a Fluke. What's a good all-purpose industrial grade digital VOM? Make and Model? Not looking for instrument grade. TIA
ShovelStrokeEd Posted October 25, 2007 Posted October 25, 2007 A Fluke 23 will do all you need for general motorcycle/automotive maintenance and household repairs/troubleshooting. They are available from numerous sources. WW Grainger, various electronics houses and the like. Moderately priced, 3 1/2 digits, analog meter (segmented LED) built in. I use a 4 1/2 digit one for work, model 87b. Another decent meter at an affordable price is a Greenlee, got mine at either Lowes or Home Depot, don't remember which. About $125 buks and has served me well
Firefight911 Posted October 25, 2007 Posted October 25, 2007 Wow!!! As soon as I read, "Simpson 260", I was immediately back in the Marine Corps working on the black box electronics from their fighter aircraft. That meter and I go WAY back!! You can't go wrong, IMO, with a Fluke. Radio Shack carries them also.
ltljohn Posted October 25, 2007 Posted October 25, 2007 Simpson 260, takes me back many years also. Great stuff! I use a cheapo from Radio Shack you can get them for about 10 bucks
smiller Posted October 25, 2007 Posted October 25, 2007 You mean a 260M... got to have that mirrored scale for accurate measurements in those pre-digital days...
T__ Posted October 25, 2007 Posted October 25, 2007 In my day, the Simpson 260 was King! I know a few years ago everyone seemed to be using a Fluke. What's a good all-purpose industrial grade digital VOM? Make and Model? Not looking for instrument grade. TIA George, I’m kind of partial to the Fluke 87 that I usually use.. It’s accuracy is fantastic, it’s repeatability is great, it will measure about anything I have needed it for except high amperage situations (can use a shunt though).. There are situation where the Fluke (or any digital meter) isn’t desired as they are rather slow updating & tend to average the measurements (such as TPS tracking).. In that case a cheap analog meter is handy also.. Now having said the above I also own probably no less than 15 el-cheapo Harbor Fright ($3.95 on sale) small digital multi meters.. I keep one in each bike & in my cars & trucks.. I buy them when on sale & give them away for X-Mas presents.. I am amazed in the accuracy of those cheap little devils.. So far all I have tested have measured the same as my more expensive Fluke 87 at least to the 100th of a volt & usually to the 1000th of a volt & the ohm side is also about as accurate as my Fluke.. I sure wouldn’t put much amperage through it but for volts & ohms they work just fine.. Twisty
George Brown Posted October 25, 2007 Author Posted October 25, 2007 You mean a 260M... got to have that mirrored scale for accurate measurements in those pre-digital days... Right on, Seth Wow!!! As soon as I read, "Simpson 260", I was immediately back in the Marine Corps working on the black box electronics from their fighter aircraft. That meter and I go WAY back!! Semper-Fi Phil. I learned to use one in USMC Electrician’s school at Court House Bay, Camp Lejeune. The closest I got to working on something exciting like jets was my last couple of years of active duty at MCAF Santa Ana keeping the MACS-3 air conditioners flying. I got a cool set of prescription aviation sun glasses while there. Rest of my time was with the ground pounders. Thanks to everyone for the model numbers. I checked Fluke's website - WOW they make a lot of different models - almost as bad as the shampoo section in the grocery store.
ShovelStrokeEd Posted October 25, 2007 Posted October 25, 2007 For doing things like pot sweeps, HES testing, EFI pulse readings, O2 sensor testing and the like, I go with my Fluke 190. A little more than the average guy might want to spend though. Street prices are in the 2K range. Nice to be able to track injector pulse width vs TPS voltage in real time and record the results for later analysis. All sorts of other uses. There are a number of inexpensive (a relative term) data loggers designed for automotive applications out there as well that, coupled with some very expensive transducers, could allow you to see what, for example, the ABS is actually doing during a hard stop.
DonB Posted October 25, 2007 Posted October 25, 2007 Fluke 189. Do it all versatility. Have carried one for a few years on my job. Use it every day. Very robust.
Dick_at_Lake_Tahoe_NV Posted October 25, 2007 Posted October 25, 2007 You mean a 260M... got to have that mirrored scale for accurate measurements in those pre-digital days... And remember the "High-Impedance Input" of these meters to keep from loading the circuit you were measuring--20,000 Ohms/Volt! Wow. Now they're probably measured in "Giga-Ohms/Volt"
smiller Posted October 25, 2007 Posted October 25, 2007 Now having said the above I also own probably no less than 15 el-cheapo Harbor Fright ($3.95 on sale) small digital multi meters.. I keep one in each bike & in my cars & trucks.. Me too, they're great... plenty accurate enough for the job, and if you accidentally drive over one or leave it by the side of the road no need to give it a second thought...
smiller Posted October 25, 2007 Posted October 25, 2007 And remember the "High-Impedance Input" of these meters to keep from loading the circuit you were measuring--20,000 Ohms/Volt!Well when that mattered then out came the VTVM.. don't even get us started...
GrumpyOldMan Posted October 26, 2007 Posted October 26, 2007 Now I really feel old. I'm still using my 25+? year old Simpson model 270 on a regular basis.
ednowicki Posted October 26, 2007 Posted October 26, 2007 Ahh... When I see a simpson meter, I think of my dad and .... - showing me how to rub vacuum tubes in my (oily) hair to read the part number. - teaching me how to wire a house. - building crystal radios. - making arrl radio projects. - being 9 years old and knowing how to check continuity on our 1/24th scale slot car race track. God.. I miss my dad.
George Brown Posted October 26, 2007 Author Posted October 26, 2007 Ahh... When I see a simpson meter, I think of my dad and .... - showing me how to rub vacuum tubes in my (oily) hair to read the part number. - teaching me how to wire a house. - building crystal radios. - making arrl radio projects. - being 9 years old and knowing how to check continuity on our 1/24th scale slot car race track. God.. I miss my dad. Mine's been gone 27 years but I think of him almost every day!
Timmer Posted October 27, 2007 Posted October 27, 2007 Fluke 189. Do it all versatility. Have carried one for a few years on my job. Use it every day. Very robust. +1 on the Fluke 189. Serious overkill for about 70% of what I use it for, but really great for the other 30%. Sorta like a BMW motorcycle...
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